U.S. to end diplomatic visas for same-sex partners

The United States will no longer grant diplomatic visas to the same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats, requiring that they be legally married to obtain them, in a reversal of Obama-era guidelines, senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

The new policy was circulated in a United Nations memo last month and took effect on Monday.

The U.N. memo, which was published online, states that the U.S. State Department will not issue a G-4 visa, which are for employees of international organizations and their immediate family members, to same-sex domestic partners. Instead, same-sex partners of diplomats based in the United States will have to present proof of marriage to be eligible for such visas.

The new rules reverse a 2009 policy instituted by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which defined “family” of foreign diplomats as including same-sex domestic partners, thus making them eligible for diplomatic visas.

Diplomats currently in the United States will be able to fulfill the new requirement by getting legally married in the United States, a senior Trump administration official said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday. According to the U.N. memo, they must submit proof of marriage by Dec. 31, or leave the country within 30 days.

The senior Trump administration official said the United States will have a process to recognize same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats from countries where same-sex marriage is not legal, but which recognize American domestic partners.